1. Am I required to notify the employer before blowing the whistle?

Some whistleblower protections require that employees notify the employer before reporting certain issues to outside agencies . The federal employee protections enforced through the Department of Labor do not require following any chain of command. In these cases, you can choose to whom you will make reports. If you want to stay anonymous, you may want to consult a lawyer familiar with the agency you chose to receive your report, so that you know the answers to these questions:

What is the agency’s reputation for maintaining confidentiality?

What are the laws that would protect you?

2. What if I’m fired before actually blowing the whistle or talking to a governmental agency?

Many whistleblowers end up discharged before they ever made a decision to blow the whistle. Some just did their quality control jobs too well. One day they discovered that the boss did not share their high standards. Others acted from innate moral values when an opportunity arose, and did the right thing without advance thinking. They can still assert their rights if the employer takes adverse action on account of the protected, if impulsive, activity.

3. Should I reveal my whistleblowing to my employer?

The decision about whether to reveal your protected activity is sometimes difficult, so employees often try to make anonymous reports of the wrongdoing they see at work. If you can make an anonymous report and never be discovered, then you would expect to avoid hostility. If you reveal your reporting to the boss, and the boss does not retaliate, or tries to retaliate and you win reinstatement, then you could continue to work with everyone knowing that the boss cannot fire you. The decision is a personal one.

You should consider these questions as you make your decision:

What type of person do you want to be: are you a Norma Rae or a Deep Throat?

How important is it to you to try to keep working there?

What are your other options?

4. What if I complain anonymously and the employer targets someone else?

If the employer guesses wrong and retaliates against an employee who engaged in no protected activity, that employee might still be able to pursue a claim for retaliation. The protected activity only needs to exist in the mind of the employer to make the employer’s retaliation unlawful. However, in our experience, the employers usually guess right.

They can match information derived from the government investigation with a list of employees who:

had that information, and

are known to have enough backbone to speak up about compliance issues.

In most workplaces, this list is unfortunately small.

5. Once I anonymously complain to a government agency, will I be retaliated against?

After the report is made, the government agency might or might not contact the employer to investigate. In most cases, the government is under no duty to investigate. The government gets to pick and choose which issues to pursue. If they do pursue your report, the employer may begin to wonder who tipped off the government.

You might also consider that sometimes (hopefully rarely), people working in government disclose who tipped them off. Most agencies have rules against this, but some have open records laws that require disclosure.

Sometimes the employer makes a guess and starts to retaliate. If you complained anonymously, you might then have a problem proving that the employer knew or suspected that you had engaged in protected activity.

6. How do I build my case?

To build a winning case of any type, the burden is on you, your union, or your attorney to gather evidence, both written and oral, which is specific, accurate, and objective. Even if you don’t end up in court, you need to have a case that a judge could find credible in order for your employer to consider settling the claim in your favor.

7. What documentation should I gather to protect my job?

Gather and put in chronological order all of the documents that you can find concerning your employment–every pay stub, every memo, and every handwritten note. Try, within your company’s rules, to get copies of:

Performance evaluations

Disciplinary warnings or reprimands

Letters of thanks or praise (from managers, customers, or co-workers)

Internal memos

Company bulletins

Attendance record

Any document stating the reason for your dismissal

Handbooks, manuals, or other documents describing work rules, policies, and procedures

Pension benefits and retirement plan information

Documents related to your unemployment compensation claim

Copies of work assignments

Organizational charts, diagrams, floor plans, etc.

Do not take documents or access information to which you have no right and are not entitled. If you are a union member, ask your union to assist in acquiring documents that are otherwise difficult to obtain, but to which you are legally entitled.

8. There are some coworkers who may be helpful witnesses for me. What should I do to make sure they can help me?

If you think co-workers or others observed your wrongful treatment, make a list of their names, addresses, and home telephone numbers, along with a summary of what you expect them to say–whether good or bad. The “bad” or unfriendly witnesses are especially important to discuss with your attorney so that he or she can evaluate the damage they might do to your case. Forewarned is forearmed.

Ask friendly witnesses to give you a written statement of anything they saw or heard in person regarding your situation as soon as you decide to take action against your employer. Memories fade over time. Make sure the witnesses state only the facts of which they are personally aware and give specific examples of what they have seen themselves or what they were told directly. General statements such as, “Everyone knew that the supervisor was out to get her,” are not helpful to your case. Get statements that specify the who, what, when, and where of the retaliatory action. If possible, have the written statement signed in front of a Notary Public.

The most useful witness statements are fact-intensive and unembellished by anger toward your employer or by friendship to you. They should be detailed enough so that whoever reads them–the court, an attorney, or an agency investigator–will see the “big picture.” If you know of employees who were mistreated in the same way you were, ask them for statements about the way they were treated. If your supervisor, for example, made insulting and demeaning remarks to you and other workers, get statements from the other co-workers that quote or paraphrase the remarks, give the dates on which they were made, and name any others who were present.

9. I am very angry about what my employer is doing. How can I keep my cool throughout the process of blowing the whistle?

No matter what the outcome of your attempt to blow the whistle, you will be better off if you remain calm and only sound off to your family and friends–far from the work environment. Angry letters or outbursts make it easier for the company to believe they are justified in ignoring your complaints in the first place and make it more difficult for them to negotiate with you or your lawyer at a later date. No matter what happens to you in the workplace, go out with dignity. You can acquire a reputation as a problem employee from one emotion-driven tirade. Keep your head, and you can keep your pride even if you’re ultimately forced to close this chapter of your working life.

The name of the game at this stage is strategy. You want to win this war and not just the first battle. Therefore, you must consider what is likely to hurt your chances and what is likely to help. If there is a particular supervisor you are sure is on your side, or someone else in top management who is friendly and aware of your good record, you could request a private meeting to explain what you want to do to keep working productively and why the company needs you on its team.

10. How do I survive the experience of being a whistleblower?

1. Before taking any irreversible steps, talk to your family of close friends about your decision to blow the whistle.

2. Be alert and discreetly attempt to learn of any other witnesses who are upset about the wrongdoing.

3. Before formally breaking ranks consider whether there is any reasonable way to work within the system by going to the first level of authority. If you do decide to break ranks, think carefully about whether you want to “go public” with your concerns or remain an anonymous source. Each strategy has implications: the decision depends on the quantity and quality of your evidence, your ability to camouflage your knowledge of key facts, the risks you are willing to assume, and your willingness to endure intense public scrutiny.

4. Develop a plan, such as strategically-timed release of information to government agencies, so that your employer is reacting to you, instead of vice-versa.

5. Maintain good relations with administration and support staff.

6. Before and after you blow the whistle, keep a careful record of events as they unfold. Try to construct a straightforward, factual log of the relevant activities and events on the job, keeping in mind that your employer will have access to your diary if there is a lawsuit.

7. Identify and copy all necessary supporting records before drawing any suspicion to your concerns.

8. Break the cycle of isolation: research, identify, and seek a support network of potential allies, such as elected officials, journalists, and activists. The solidarity of key constituencies can be more powerful than the bureaucracy you are challenging.

9. Invest the funds to obtain a legal opinion from a competent lawyer.

10. Always be on guard not to embellish your charges.

11. Engage in whistleblowing initiatives on your own time and with your own resources, not your employer’s.

12. Don’t wear your cynicism on your sleeve when working with the authorities.

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